Potter County hosts regular meeting of Commissioners Court
During Monday’s meeting of the Potter County Commissioners’ Court, discussion and action occurred surrounding the director of a key department in the county.
During the meeting, the court approved the hiring of Judy Woodard as the county’s new director of its human resources department in a 3-2 vote, following the retirement of Kay Holland. Precinct One Commissioner H.R. Kelly made the motion, stating he was in favor of promoting someone within the department for the position.
“I’m always in favor of getting people who worked in the department to where they can improve and move ahead in their departments. I think at this time, Judy (Woodard) can replace Kay (Holland),” he said. “There’s going to be some disagreement … It’s my recommendation for Judy to move up to Kay’s spot.”
While the Potter County Commissioners’ Court approved a resolution earlier this month, authorizing the submission of a grant application to the Texas Indigent Defense Commission (TIDC) to support the implementation of a public defender/managed assigned counsel program from Neighborhood Defender Service (NDS) for Potter and Armstrong Counties, Potter County Judge Nancy Tanner stated she plans on withdrawing the resolution this week, not seeing NDS as a good match for the county.
This comes after the court approved the submission of a notice of intent to apply for the TIDC grant in late March, according to previous reports from the Globe-News. The process began after the Sixth Amendment Center conducted a report surrounding Potter County’s indigent defense system, stating it found issues with clients having access to counsel as well as excessive workloads by attorneys, supervision and oversight issues and organizational independence issues.
Potter County approves grant to continue new public defender office potential
Over the last four years, the Potter County Commissioners’ Court has worked to revamp its indigent defense system. During the most recent meetings of the court, that process, in conjunction with the Neighborhood Defender Service (NDS), progressed slightly.
First, the court unanimously approved a resolution, authorizing the submission of a grant application to the Texas Indigent Defense Commission (TIDC) during Monday s regular meeting to support the implementation of a public defender/managed assigned counsel program from NDS for Potter and Armstrong Counties. The grant’s deadline was set for May 7.
During Monday’s regular meeting of the Potter County Commissioners’ Court, officials with the court discussed the funds that Potter County is set to receive from the American Rescue Plan of 2021, signed into law earlier this year by President Joe Biden.
According to previous reports by the Amarillo Globe-News, the American Rescue Plan of 2021 gave $1.9 trillion of additional COVID-19 relief for Americans, with a little more than half of the funds given to states and cities for COVID-19 aid.
Mercy Murguia, a member of the Potter County Commissioners’ Court, stated during the meeting that out of the $1.9 trillion in relief, $5.6 billion went to counties in the state of Texas, which officials are allocating based on population.
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